


It Began with A Garden

by The_Bentley



Series: Kisses Bingo Fics [8]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Comfort, Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley's Name is Crawly | Crawley (Good Omens), Fluff, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Kissing, M/M, Scene: Garden of Eden (Good Omens), Snake Crowley (Good Omens), South Downs Cottage (Good Omens), Sunsets, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26300371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Bentley/pseuds/The_Bentley
Summary: The cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning that chased each other across the sky were not reassuring, either.  Not only was the sky wet, it was also expressing its anger very well.  He trembled enough Aziraphale noticed.A little love story about how a certain angel coaxed a frightened demon out of hiding during the world's first thunderstorm and how that Changed Everything.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Kisses Bingo Fics [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861126
Comments: 17
Kudos: 86
Collections: Kisses Bingo





	It Began with A Garden

**Author's Note:**

> Kisses Bingo call: Palm kisses

It was warm and dry under Aziraphale’s wing, but the weather still concerned Crawly. He had never experienced anything but sunny days as he had been wiling away the weeks in the Tree of Knowledge before he had been able to cause his mischief. The last time anything wet had fallen from the sky had been when he Fell. He had landed in a pool of boiling sulphur only to pull himself out on to a landscape that rained drops of lava down on the damned for a week straight. Or at least what would have been a week if Time had been invented. 

The cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning that chased each other across the sky were not reassuring, either. Not only was the sky wet, it was also expressing its anger very well. He trembled enough Aziraphale noticed. 

“Buck up, there. It’ll be ok. It’s just what’s called a ‘rainstorm.’ We weren’t scheduled to get them just yet but I guess the Almighty changed Her mind.” Aziraphale gave him a smile as he stood there as dry as Crawly thanks to a small miracle. 

The reassurance was not enough the next time lightning struck with a booming crack. The sky lit up with a brilliant white light that almost blinded Crawly while the thunder’s cry nearly broke his eardrums. Panicked, he changed forms again, startling Aziraphale, and disappeared. The angel blinked to find Crawly was gone, a tail disappearing over the edge of the wall back into the garden. 

“Crawly?” 

Flying down into the garden, he searched the immediate area for the frightened demon. Checking under trees and in bushes, he found it odd that a being from Hell would be scared of something like a thunderstorm. Was evil supposed to be afraid? Wasn’t it demons' purpose to cause fear? It puzzled him as he continued to poke around in the lush vegetation. A yellow gleam caught his eye before it disappeared again further into a copse of trees. 

“Crawly, it’s me. Aziraphale. I won’t hurt you.” 

He went further into the Garden, searching every conceivable hiding place. It took longer than expected and by the time he made some progress the storm was letting up. He crept deeper into the trees, the undergrowth catching on the hem of his robes. Ignoring that, he got closer to the long dark shadow he had set his sights on. Two yellow eyes stared back at him. Aziraphale held out a hand, crouching low to be on the Serpent’s level. 

“It’s ok. Nothing will hurt you.” 

“You tried to smite me.” 

“No! That was the storm! I don’t . . . I can’t smite other living things. That would be wrong, no matter what you’ve done. Please come out?” 

This angel seemed so nice. A lot nicer than the last ones Crawly encountered with their swords and demands he leave Heaven or forfeit his life. He slithered forward a metre or two. 

“That’s it.” Aziraphale crouched there stone still, his hand still outstretched towards Crawly. “I promise you’ll be safe.” 

Crawly hesitated. “Angelic promises don’t mean much to my lot.” 

“I know.” Aziraphale felt uneasy at that statement. Promises were promises and should be kept no matter what. “I could have struck you down by now, but I haven’t and I won’t.” 

He sat down, arm still outstretched. Crawly recoiled, his head was pulled close to his body in an s-shape, his neck was raised slightly. His tongue flicked out in a rapid motion. If Aziraphale had been able to read snake body language, he would have moved out of Crawly’s striking distance immediately. As it was, he was unaware Crawly behaved somewhat snake-like in his serpent form and remained where he was, hoping the demon would come out. 

“I’m venomous.” Crawly opened his mouth to show off a complement of teeth nobody would want a bite from even if he didn’t claim to be poisonous. 

“I trust you won’t bite me.” 

“You’re an odd angel, you know that?” 

“Yes,” replied Aziraphale with a sigh. He had been told many times how different he was and heard rumours of what had been said behind his back. “I was a scribe who recorded Heaven’s history. I was laughed at for constantly having my nose in a scroll instead of wanting to learn swordplay and other such games.” 

Crawly uncoiled slightly, his neck relaxing into a normal s-curve rather than a strike position. “Then why are you a guard?” 

“They didn’t give me a choice. I still had to learn. I simply didn’t want to despite everyone else’s enthusiasm. This was before the Rebellion. You should know how it was.” 

“I wasn’t in Heaven a lot of the time. I was among the stars.” 

“Ah.” 

The Serpent wiggled closer. Aziraphale could hear him slide across the fallen leaves littering the ground. “We came back to find dissent. A lot of us Fell for asking questions. We had no clue what was going on, being gone from Heaven for so long.” 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been asking those questions.” 

“Maybe the rest of you should have. Instead of keeping your heads empty and toeing the line.” Crawly turned his head away. He would have frowned if snakes possessed that ability. 

“There is no point arguing about it now.” 

There was silence for a very long time. Rain dripped off the leaves surrounding them on to the ground outside their dry spot. 

“Sssssorry.” 

“Come on out. I’m sorry, too.” Aziraphale wasn’t sure if he had a thing to apologize for, but it was something Crawly needed to hear. 

“The . . . rainstorm . . . won’t hurt me?” 

“No.” 

“You won’t hurt me, either?” 

“Never. I don’t believe in that.” 

Aziraphale hadn’t moved. He remained in his stock-still position with his hand outstretched towards Crawly. Crawly slithered towards it, noticing that the clouds were finally parting and a brilliant sunset was covering the landscape with a pinkish light. It bathed Aziraphale in its softness covering him with an innocence even Crawly could see. He took a chance and trusted this angel a few hours ago when he first approached him and he knew he could continue to trust him. He crawled close enough to put his head in Aziraphale’s hand and transformed to human-shaped yet again. As he did, his lips brushed the angel's palm softly. Aziraphale’s breath caught. 

“What was that?” 

“What was what?” 

“Your lips touched my hand. It felt nice. Can you do that anywhere?” 

Crawly shrugged. “I assume so.” 

“How about on the cheek?” 

Aziraphale’s face was close to his now. Crawly smiled at him and threw caution to the wind. 

“Why not?” 

And he touched his lips to his cheek. Aziraphale felt a kind of warmth on the spot that was more than just physical. It felt . . . special. Little did he know he was building the foundation for something deeper with Crawly. 

“Oh! Want . . . well . . . me to . . . ?” 

“Yes,” said Crawly, eager to experience this action that excited Aziraphale so much. 

He fell for a second time when Aziraphale placed his lips against his skin, setting off feelings that Crawly would carry with him for the rest of his immortal life. He turned his head and asked for a kiss on the lips. What he received sealed both their fates.

~*~*~ 

Aziraphale sat on the bench facing the sun and the sea, the soft colours of the sunset illuminating his face as they did over six thousand years ago when he had first encountered Crowley. He hummed in delight to feel the ocean air on his face along with the last warm rays of the sun before it sank below the horizon. This perfect scene was only missing one thing, but all he had to do was think that something was missing and that particular something showed up. 

Crowley slid onto the bench beside him carrying two mugs of cocoa he had made up at the cottage when he noticed Aziraphale out here. Giving one to him, he took the angel’s hand and placed a kiss on his palm exactly where he did all those millennia ago in Eden. Aziraphale turned to him with loving eyes. 

“Thank you, my dear. And you know . . . the very first kiss you gave me was just like that. Sunset and all. Only we were nowhere near the ocean.” 

“Not unless you consider the desert a sea. And my lips accidentally scraping across your palm a kiss.” 

“That started it all, you know. That kiss.” 

"It wasn't a kiss. It just led to us discovering them.” 

"It was close enough, my dear."

They sat in companionable silence drinking cocoa and listening to the waves as the darkness took over. Crowley’s hand was on Aziraphale’s thigh and Aziraphale’s hand was on Crowley’s. Aziraphale briefly laid his head on Crowley’s shoulder until the need to sip more cocoa took him. Then he turned to look at his beloved demon. 

“Kiss me every evening at sunset?” he asked. 

“Ok. I’m not going to argue with that but I must ask . . . why?” 

“Because it all began that way, my love.” 

They were silent for a long time after that as Aziraphale leaned over to give Crowley the most passionate kiss to ever be given in the history of Earth. History would repeat itself every day at sunset whether the sun was out or hidden behind clouds. After all, it wasn’t the sun that mattered. Or the rain. It was the seed of love that had been planted six thousand years ago in a forbidden Garden that had grown into the wonderful relationship they shared today. 


End file.
